LUPIN BAR CAFFÈ, VIA CAMILLO SERAFINI 67, 00164 ROMA

Rating: Standard, solidly normal Roman coffee

The Bar Lupin Caffè bears an interesting name, it’s a manga cartoon character from the 60s. Had a lot of influence on people, and I guess it did for the owners of this place. In spite of its odd name and theme (at least for me!) it’s always packed with people of all sorts. Cops, regular workers, and a good mix of young and old people. And I know now why.​

Asking for coffee presented this:

Presentation: Of course I loved the fluted shape of the cup, it keeps the shot short no matter how dumb the barista is. But in this case, the barista kept it in order. No water given, but the guy was very nice and I could have asked for it no probs.

Temperature of Cup: Uff… the typical Roman tradition of scalding hot cups…

Quantity: As you can see, it was a very short shot. This was great! By all definitions in the English speaking world, this was a ‘ristretto’.

Temperature: Very hot espresso, in spite of waiting.

Volume/Consistency: It was watery, yet got better as I got down through to the bottom drops.

Crema: I remember it darker than the photo, and it was persistent and felt oily, creamy, so we’re doing good.

Odor: Nope, none here, never to be had…

Taste: So this was not rancid, it was very dark, very strong, very bitter, as expected from something this short and having so much coffee grinds in the portafilter.

Overall: Overall, and judging it on its own ‘Roman’ terms, it was a decent coffee. It was good, repeatable, and the shortness of it made it a pleasant experience. Had it been just a little more thick, a bit more oily with some hints a different tastes in its grinds it would have been among the best in Rome. But alas,… it didn’t.

The setup: They had a nice, simple, yet straight to the point E61 based Futurmat. These effective machines are made in Spain (or at least they were when I last checked, and they’re part of the Spanish Dictatorship’s legacy, where Italian brands that wanted to sell in Spain had to ‘build’ in Spain. So lots of brands (Faema, Gaggia, etc), had the same models built there. And many times different brands were made int he same factory. This is one of them.

The coffee being served was Corsetti Caffè. Since I saw Hag Caffè cups on the coffee machine, I thougth that the ‘Corsetti’ was simply a relic form the bar’s previous name or something. I asked the barista what coffee they were serving, and he said ‘Corsetti’ of course, looking at me and at the cup as if I was dumb and couldn’t read. Either way, his smile didn’t let me know if it was totally true or not. But I’ve tried to look up this brand and haven’t found any online presence… but it might be related to the famous Corsetti restaurant in Trastevere. I’ll update this when I find out!

Caffè Lupin

di Antonio Liccardo

Via Camillo Serafini 67, 00164 Roma